There has always been anecdotal evidence supporting the
connection between animal cruelty and violent behaviour against people.
The 'Son of Sam' murderer in New York City, for example, reportedly
(Washington Star, 1977) hated dogs and killed a number of neighbourhood
animals. Another newspaper article (Washington Post, 1979) reported a
mass killer as having immersed cats in containers of battery acid as a
child. Albert De Salvo, the notorious Boston Strangler, trapped dogs and
cats, placed them in orange crates, and shot arrows through the boxes (Fucini,
1978).

In addition to this anecdotal evidence, there have now
been a number of psychological studies carried out which show links
between childhood cruelty to animals and later criminality. In some
cases, such acts were a precursor to child abuse. Some of these reports
were commissioned by

humane societies in an attempt to persuade Government
authorities of the seriousness of animal cruelty cases, including the
Kellert/Felthouse study.

The Kellert/Felthouse study, confirmed a strong
correlation between childhood cruelty to animals and future antisocial
and aggressive behaviour. It stressed the need for researchers,
clinicians and societal leaders to be alert to the importance of
childhood animal cruelty, and suggested that the evolution of a more
gentle and benign relationship in human society might be enhanced by our
promotion of a more positive and nurturing ethic between children and
animals.

Such path-finding studies are of key importance for
society and educators alike. Amongst their findings are: in one
community in England, 83% of families with a history of animal abuse had
been identified as having children at risk from abuse or neglect; of 57
families treated by New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services
for incidents of child abuse, pets had been abused in 88% of cases,
usually by the parent; a behavioural triad of cruelty to animals, bed
wetting and fire setting in childhood is strongly indicative of likely
violent behaviour in adulthood; and there is a significantly higher
incidence of behaviour involving cruelty to animals, usually prior to
age 25, in people who go on to commit mass or serial murders.

A book newly published in 1999 brings together useful
research in this area and charts some actions already being taken to
address this problem. It is titled: 'Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and
Animal Abuse: Linking the Circles of Compassion for Prevention and
Intervention'.

When someone is ill-treated or relegated to a demeaning
position in society, they often respond by venting their frustration on
someone whose societal position is even lower than their own. By
destroying or tormenting the weak, such as an animal or a child, the
oppressor becomes the master who has, in turn, tortured them. The anger
is directed at an innocent instead of the perpetrator of their own
victimisation, and it is difficult to break the cycle of abuse.

Humane education is needed to develop an enlightened
society that has empathy and respect for life, thus breaking the cycle
of abuse. The aim is to create a culture of caring. It is also a sound
investment - working on the prevention of criminality and antisocial
behaviour, which can have a

massive societal cost, both in terms of reduction in
'quality of life' and in financial costs incurred through criminal
damage, maintenance of law enforcement systems, court costs, prison
systems and juvenile work.

The following claims were made for humane education by
the US National Parent-Teacher Association Congress in 1993:

"Children trained to extend justice, kindness, and mercy
to animals become more just, kind and considerate in their relations to
one another. Character training along these lines in youths will result
in men and women of broader sympathies; more humane, more law-abiding -
in every respect more valuable - citizens. Humane education is the
teaching in schools and colleges of the nations the principles of
justice, goodwill, and humanity towards all life. The cultivation of the
spirit of kindness to animals is but the starting point toward that
larger humanity that includes one's fellow of every race and clime. A
generation of people trained in these principles will solve their
international difficulties as neighbours and not as enemies."

The practice and reinforcement of kindness, of care and
compassion towards animals, through formal and non-formal educational
processes is, thus, viewed as having a range of positive spin-offs in
terms of pro-social attitudes towards people of a different gender,
ethnic group, race, culture or nation.

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